


Hakuna Matata

by darwinsdonut



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Characters Watching Disney Movies, College AU, Multi, OT3, background flyoming, background southicut, captain flowers shows these kids the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 05:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14205663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darwinsdonut/pseuds/darwinsdonut
Summary: Carolina hears about a Disney Night on campus and decides to go when her room-mate agrees to join her; her room-mate bails and she ends up with two equally amazing guys instead.





	Hakuna Matata

Carolina had always been a fan of Disney movies.  
They always brought her back to early childhood, sitting with her mother in the living room floor, drinking chocolate milk together and learning all the songs. Her mother had pointed out the more meaningful parts of the movies- Mulan’s sacrifice to do the right thing, Pocahontas’ fight for justice, Simba’s sense of responsibility and duty. Carolina, then, had just appreciated the vibrant animation and catchy tunes. As she grew older, however, she became the teenager who preferred to spend Friday night with her childhood heroes playing on the TV, a reminder of her warrior mother, gone but living on in nostalgic films.  
So when Carolina’s university bulletin board suddenly included a flier for “Disney Night”, she was interested.  
It still took convincing from her room-mate, Dakota South, to get her to agree to go, and then just as she arrived Dakota texted that she couldn’t make it but would send a friend. Carolina, already sitting in a metal chair along the back row, groaned aloud at the text and sent back a sharp reply. Dakota just laughed, and Carolina pocketed her phone and crossed her arms.  
Butch Flowers, a hippie kind of senior hosting the event, came to greet her after a few minutes; they’d crossed paths a few times before. Butch wished her a good evening and moved on to greet a cute brunette who’d just come in. Carolina turned to the previews, projected onto a large flat wall and faint while the room’s lights were still on. The buttery aroma of popcorn filled the air, and most others in the room, all strangers, had a drink of some sort at their side. Carolina had brought her own chocolate milk, and had never much liked popcorn.  
Ten minutes later, however, a blond guy with one golden brown eye and one shale-blue approached her with a smile. “Hi- are you Carolina?”  
She looked up at him. “Who are you?”  
He glanced at his phone in his hand. “My friend Dakota bailed on me and said to find you.”  
Carolina suppressed a frustrated laugh. Good grief, that woman. “She set us up. Come sit down.”  
He sat down next to her. “I’m Dave, by the way. Um. But no one calls me that, I go by my last name, or Wash.”  
She raised an eyebrow at him. “‘Wash’?”  
“My last name is Washington.”  
“Makes sense.”  
A hulking figure approached them both now. “Carolina and Washington?”  
Carolina met the big guy’s dark green eyes. Ooh- pretty green eyes. Carolina had pretty green eyes herself, but this guy’s were darker, with vibrant gold flecks. She nodded. “Let me guess: Dakota sent you?”  
He gestured to the cute brunette Flowers had been talking to. “Connie. She said us three should know each other.”  
“And why is that?”  
“Carolina, Washington,” he pointed at his chest with his thumb. “Maine.”  
Carolina laughed at that. “Naturally. Alright, fine, come sit down. Guess it’s a three-way.”  
Her cheeks reddened as she bit her tongue, regretting her word choice, but thankfully the lights turned off right then.  
_The Lion King_ started playing and Carolina resisted the urge to sing along with the opening song, sipping her chocolate milk. She was sat between two hot guys- and come to think of it, Dakota had mentioned a _Connie_ just a few days ago. Those meddling traitors. This was why you didn’t tell your friends that you weren’t dating; they would definitely reply by trying to set you up with someone.  
“Well, I’m Carolina,” Carolina said. “I’m a political science major, second year. How about you guys?”  
“I’m Matthew Maine, third year, also political science. I think I’ve seen you around.”  
Carolina nodded. “Yeah, big hulking guy like you is kinda hard to forget.” They both turned to Washington, on Carolina’s other side. “How about you?”  
“I’m David Washington, a mess.”  
Carolina grinned. “I think we’ll get along.”  
They sat in relative silence, watching as Rafiki anointed Simba. Small comments appeared between them as the movie went on; this was supposed to be an all-night marathon, with one break at two during which all movie-goers would be escorted by Butch and his boyfriend to the Waffle House for a coffee-and-food break.  
As _The Lion King_ went on, Carolina avoided the urge to sing along with the songs (especially “Hakuna Matata”, that was god-level self-control). During “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, Carolina felt herself warming; the casual jokes of Maine and Wash throughout the movie had only intensified how much she already liked them.  
After the movie ended, there was a brief interim while Butch started the next one; he played them based on a poll he’d taken earlier that week.  
“This is my favorite Disney film,” Maine said as the previews started, and Carolina looked over.  
“Just seeing you in the halls, I wouldn’t think of you as a Disney guy.”  
He looked down at her. “I’m tall, but I still had a childhood.”  
She laughed. “Good point. So, what movie is this?”  
“Just wait and see.”  
By the time the movie started, there were two arms around the back of Carolina’s chair; they’d spent the previews laughing and referencing pieces of pop culture lost after 1998, the date on most of the previews. The 90s had been a better time. Well- in some ways.  
“Mulan?” Carolina said, as the movie started. “That’s your favorite?”  
“It’s a good movie!” Washington said from Carolina’s other side.  
_Fighting for what you believe in at great personal risk is one of the most honorable things a person can do,_ rang Carolina’s mother’s words in her head. She glanced at the two guys and smiled, turning back to the screen. Maybe it was okay that Dakota bailed on her; Dakota wouldn’t have liked this kind of thing anyway, and these two appreciated it, at least.  
As _Mulan_ played, they chattered a bit more. Maine didn’t say too much, but when he did there was a dry kind of wit and and proficiency for pop culture referencers. Washington was more sarcasm and exhausted college student. Dry wit and sarcasm went well with bad puns and mostly joking hostility, so Carolina fit right in.  
By the time they’d finished _Mulan_ and _Toy Story_ (Washington’s favorite- now they’d each seen their favorites and speculated if anyone else even voted), it was time for the early-morning break. Carolina joined Washington and Maine walking with the fourteen remaining watching the movie, including Butch and his boyfriend, to the Waffle House a half-mile away.  
She liked them. Both of them. And they seemed to like her, and neither seemed to be the jealous, fighting types- they treated each other much as they treated her, and if anyone from the outside had to guess, it would seem the three had known each other for ages. The way they joked and laughed and talked as if they’d always known each other; maybe it was just the 2 a.m. streets muddying her brain but Carolina was content to be with them. She never got along with strangers this easily.  
They reached the Waffle House and entered a booth, sitting down together. Carolina spotted Butch and his boyfriend sitting with Connie and- _Dakota._ Carolina gaped. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back. Order me a chocolate milk, please.”  
She walked over to the booth and planted her hands on her hips. Her room-mate grinned at her. “Dakota! What the hell are you doing here!”  
“I’m on a date,” Dakota said. Carolina glanced at the booth- the cute brunette. That’s why she’d been so interested in Connie. But- wait.  
“A date. Really. You bailed on me, but you’re at the Waffle House, and presumably have been at the movie marathon-”  
“No, I’ve been in our room, studying,” Dakota explained. “But I’ve been texting Connie all night, so when she said it was time for Casa de Waffle, I decided to come along. I could use some brain food anyway. It turns out you can’t just punch an essay into writing itself.”  
“You could punch someone and make _them_ write it for you,” Butch’s boyfriend said. Dakota considered.  
“There’s always my brother. I’ll think about it.”  
Carolina glanced at Butch’s boyfriend. “Don’t give her ideas.” She turned back to Dakota. “Hey- did you try to set me up tonight?”  
“What do you mean?” Dakota asked innocently.  
“The dude you sent me?”  
Dakota glanced over at the booth where Wash and Maine now laughed, eyes watering as they tried to restrain it. “Seems like it worked. Who’s that guy? He’s…” Dakota gave an appraising laugh. “Big.”  
“That’s Maine. Connie sent him.”  
Connie looked up. “Hi, I’m Connie, I’m kinda dating your room-mate.”  
“I picked up on that, strangely enough. Dakota- no setting me up with people!”  
“You’ll be okay. Go back to your not-date and leave me to my date.”  
Carolina rolled her eyes and walked back over to the table. She had the choice now to sit by Maine or Wash, and kind of wanted to pull up a chair rather than pick, but Maine was closer so she sat next to him. Did she _have_ to choose between them? They were both amazing.  
A waitress brought out a coffee, a chocolate milk, and a tea, giving the coffee to Wash, and Carolina ordered her food while she drank the chocolate milk. Carolina turned to them, and decided just to be blunt.  
“Alright,” she said, taking a breath. “To be truthful, I really like both of you. A lot. Already.” She glanced between them. “And it’s not like I like either of you more than the other. It’s just both of you. And it’s really sudden-”  
“I like you two, too,” Maine said. “Both of you are… Incredible.”  
Wash glanced between them. “Thank God it’s not just me. So- is this- like… How does this work?”  
Maine shrugged. “I like you, I like her, she likes you, you like her, we like each other. We play it by ear and go cuddle and watch Disney movies. Split dinner checks three ways.”  
Carolina grinned. “Sounds good to me.”  
“I’m down,” Wash added.

The night continued on, more movies after Waffle House.  
Dakota went back to their room with Connie, so Carolina was fine with staying out a bit longer. They watched _Hercules, Aladdin,_ and _The Princess & the Frog,_ and then it was nine in the morning and the five that were left- Carolina, Maine, Washington, Butch, and Butch’s boyfriend- were ready for bed. Carolina stood and stretched; she’d been cuddling for hours and had joined the snack run after _Aladdin,_ and she was content and happy and felt like she could sleep peacefully.  
“Back to my place?” Maine asked, glancing at Carolina and Washington. “I have a huge bed, and this cuddle pile could totally continue…”  
“Yes,” Carolina and Wash said simultaneously.  
Carolina followed Wash and Maine as the three left the building, crossed the quad, and entered Maine’s solo room- he had to have a room to himself, because he had to have a bed that could fit him.  
Maine collapsed into the middle of the bed with a groan. “Oh, this nice.”  
Washington crawled under the blanket and curled up like a cat at Maine’s side. Carolina smiled at them both, feeling warmth blossom in her chest, and then laid down on Maine’s other side. Washington took her hand over his stomach and Maine wrapped an arm around them both.  
Maine started to hum “A Whole New World” from _Aladdin,_ while Washington’s breathing evened. As Carolina fell into a serene sleep, warm and comforted and close, she felt happier than ever that she’d gone to Disney Night.


End file.
